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Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Gamecocks will get TEN wins this season. Garcia will be so much improved it will be scary. He studies film and defenses around the clock. The physical ability is there and if he works on his footwork he, will be fine. Look for the o line to improve, it can't be worse. Mathews is going to move to a blocking end and by all accounts this will bring some much needed heart to the unit. Jiles will start and watch out all seccandidate. At wide out there is big shoes to fill, loosing Kenny hurts, but maybe this will force Garcia into his progressions. But I look for some guys to step up. Barnes is due and Hills is a sleeper but I really look for a dark horse to step in, E Baker could be that slot, speed, WR we need. Players not to forget TE Saunders, QB Hillary. The defence will be better against the run and will maintain their ability to defend the pass. Look for a lot of SB blitz.

Friday, March 27, 2009

I recently came across this comment, that I can not ignore, posted on You Tube:

"This is the second video I have watched on this same topic. Ignorance and laziness will be the death of people. What happened to hard work and self control? America was founded by people that believed anyone can archive anything if they work hard and focus on goals. Just waiting for the government to help you with everything is stupidity and pathetic. I should not have to pay the government to help morons out. God Bless America." "It's time people take responsibilities for there own actions. Stop blaming everyone else. I own three homes and have owned others in the past. Each time before I closed the deal on the new purchase of the home I knew what I was getting into. I knew what type of loan I was signing up for and I knew what the payments would be. Only greed and ignorance will cause someone to purchase a home they can't afford. If you want a big house make sure you can afford it, If you want a small one do the same." "I am not a guru in wealth management but its only common sense don't buy things you cant afford. The Government is in the same boat, They are so deep in debt but yet they keep handing out money to people or business when those people or businesses should fail or go bankrupt. You learn lessons from failing I know I have. But the government does not seem to learn nor do some people. Instead my taxes will go up because of someone else's mistakes and stupidity. It may be rude but it's true."

The comment above was posted in response to the crisis in "Tent City"

After reading this response, I went to this persons profile and what I found was vacation videos. His profile states that "some things may get a little political" but that must have been drowned out somewhere between "Disney World" and "Birds flying on the beach"What would this man know about laziness?

Do you know how much energy it takes to be on vacation and run three homes? How "greedy" of you people to want to buy a single house for your family!!

It was people like this jackass above that bought houses so they could brag about them. Banks want to lend more money, the bigger the loan the more money they make. The value of a house doesn't have much to do with the house itself. If a house that's worth $40,000 sells for $100,000 the other houses in that area are now worth a lot more than they were. The more houses that sale at higher prices, the higher the base price goes. The bulk of the outrageous home price increases occurred in tourist areas. Vegas, Florida, Coastal Carolina's and California were ground zero for the economic crisis. The people buying 2nd, 3rd homes and vacation spots contributed in rising cost's. They anticipated rental profits that never materialized due to the rising price of gas. As they defaulted on these loans or sold at a loss this caused the sub prime mortgage rate to increase. This is where people, such as the tenants of Tent City started getting screwed.

Their loans, the sub prime loans (Fannie and Freddy) went thru the roof. Forcing them to foreclose. If you are fortunate to have more than one house, you are allowed to negotiate the interest rate on the 2nd and 3rd house.If you only have one your stuck paying what they want you to pay. As these people started loosing their houses, they have to cut back on spending. In turn, others were affected when businesses began to slow down and jobs had to be cut.

The loans themselves were insured by AIG.AIG and other companies involved packaged these loans and borrowed $30 to every $1 that they held in collateral. They never anticipated the value of homes going down. If they did they didn't care because they were too big and the Government would be forced to bail them out. The truth is AIG, the large banks and the Federal Government are playing a money game at the expense of those with lower incomes.

The idea of letting certain businesses "fail or go bankrupt" is ignorant. AIG underwrites the insurance on the loans on millions of homes. If AIG goes under those millions of loans will be in default and banks big and small would go under as well. These loans are in the $billions. That might just be the reason for the bailout hmm...

As far as "paying to help these morons out" well, part of those people fought for you to have what you have now. If your "greed and ignorance" didn't cause you to buy all those houses they wouldn't need a hand out. They seem to be doing alright in Tent City, pulling together like that when they had nowhere left to go. Doesn't seem like they waited to be rescued, they took the initiative to provide for themselves with what little they had around them.

They need help. They are Americans. They did not ask to be forced into this situation. I cant imagine that anyone would want to be there. And you should be happy that they decided on trying to help themselves quietly in Tent City rather than commit to crime to get the bare necessities of life.

If it was left up to jackasses like this one, we would all be in Tent City.

Before I start, I want to point out that while many people want marijuana legalized for many reason's be it medical or they just want to get high or whatever, I don't really care about that. I support legalization from an economic stand point. For the good of our Nation. The security of our future and keeping our children safe.This is how legalization would affect me and million's of other American's that do not use marijuana and why every one should support it.

Scientific fact's about marijuana:1. There is no scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults.2. Less than 1 percent of American's smoke marijuana on a daily basis and it does not cause physical dependence, if there are any withdrawal symptom's they are extremely mild.3. Marijuana smoker's smoke less than often than tobacco smoker's therefor there is a lower chance of lung damage with marijuana smoker's. There have been no report's of lung cancer related to marijuana.4. Marijuana is not a "gateway drug" it is the most popular illegal drug in the United State's. If someone has used a less popular drug like heroin or cocaine chance's are they have used marijuana too. Studies show that the majority of marijuana users have never used any other illegal drugs.5. There is no compelling evidence that marijuana use contributes to vehicle accident's. Studies have shown that marijuana produces little or no changes that could affect car handling abilities. There is however a %48 chance of being killed by a drunk driver EVERY TIME you get on the road!6. Marijuana decreases aggression and the vast majority of users do not commit crimes. According to law enforcement studies marijuana does not have a significant role in those users that have committed crimes.

Based on these studies conducted by scientists, health officials and law enforcement, my conclusion would be that we have substances that are far more dangerous on our market today.As a tobacco user it appears I would be better off if I did smoke marijuana lol!

Now this is where I get involved in legalization:We already know that it is a marketable product and we already have the regulations in place to market marijuana using the current laws in place for tobacco, so that takes out any guess work on the how to.

Think of the tax revenue! If applied to health care it would stretch much further than the new tobacco taxes.

Worried about your kids using? If it was regulated, they would have to go to the store. Cashier's are far less likely to sell your children marijuana than the neighborhood pusher. As a father of two, I like this alternative so much more!

Mexico drug wars, while it may not eliminate it completely, it would break it down dramatically.

Marijuana is here and attempts to stop it's use have been futile. Why not allow it to be American made and put the terrorists and drug dealers out of business. There really is not any reasoning in keeping marijuana illegal.

I can NOT see how this benefits anyone other than drug dealers and terrorists.

What I can see is how this makes it too easy for marijuana to end up in the hands of my children. How this has led to the deaths of almost 10,000 people in an unnecessary drug war. How my taxes are wasted on enforcing this law instead of protecting our citizens. How our economy is a mess while we have this untapped resource, lost to the black market. How cancer patients are suffering while this small item could give them so much relief as they are dying. We must push this policy change while the window of oportunity is open.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

There are a ton of stock's out there now that are known to be BIG. Such as Citigroup, in Sep. of '08 the stock's worth was at $20 a share, right now it is selling at $2.63. Colonial Bancgroup inc. (cnb) was at $8 six months ago, today it is selling at a mere $.92. Even if you have never traded stocks before, you can do so easily using sites such as Scottrade, Ameritrade or Etrade. Personally I prefer Scottrade, their site is easy to use and they are alway's there to answer my question's.

Okay, so here is a simple breakdown of what a stock purchase could look like:You have $1,000.You purchase stock (we'll use cnb from above) at $.92.You have enough money to purchase 1,079 share's ($992.68 invested, I'm using Scottades rate of $7 per trade)Every penny that this stock gain's you will gain $10.79. (Now, keep in mind that the same applies when a penny is lost, you loose $10.79)If cnb can climb back up to $8 you could be looking at a stock worth $8632.

What is so great about this is that you don't have to have a ton of money! You can purchase a great stock for as little as $500. (and chance's are you won't loose as much as you have lost in purchasing lottery ticket's)Now that the Government is stepping up and people are looking into our economy more, it's only a matter of time before thing's start picking up, so even if you see a small decline here and there the long term could still pay off so don't freak out.

There are no gaurantee's that you will make money in the stock market. Yes, you could loose your money, but if you were going to take a chance in stock's there is no better time than now.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Why pay more for labor than you have to?First lets focus on Jobs. Unemployment rates are soaring, leaving many to struggle. You can't even get into fast-food in many areas! Immigrants come here to work, they will take jobs with low pay. Most Americans won't and can't afford to live on such a low salaries. That hurts Americans looking for jobs as well as those working in these establishment's.

Wait! It doesn't stop there. Alot of that money is being sent to other countries. Think of how many businesses are loosing money this way. American's generally don't send money out of the country so it keep's businesses in business in your area. The more money they get, the more they can hire, the more money get's put into that area, more money find's it's way to your pocket's.

Now, some people say, "Immigrants are only taking jobs that American's don't want" But if you look around that is NOT the case as you see here:

Iowa: 389 illegal workers at a meat packing plantMiss. 600 illegal workers at a transformer plantNebraska: 1,297 illegal workers at a meat packing plantThese are just a few.

An estimated 1,000,000 immigrants enter the US every year. It's estimated that there are currently 20,000,000 in the US today. There are currently 12.5 million of unemployed American's.

Next let's look into health care: The majority of our hospital's are state funded. Funded by our taxes. They can not turn you away for medical treatment. Hospital's have outrageouse bill's as most of us know, and if you don't pay these bill's they can go against your credit score. This can hurt you when it come's time to purchase a house, car or even a phone. Immigrant's don't have Social Security number's and if they don't have insurance guess who pay's the bill?

Now, you might want to say, "immigrant's work and pay taxes too" But the truth is is that if they are paying taxes it is under a stolen identity if they are illegal immigrant's. You know that you have the option of "exempt" and "dependents" on your W-4's that lowers what is taken out and one major point here is this recent story:

A hospital in Illinois spent millions of taxpayers dollars to stabilize a immigrant Francisco Pantaleon when a head injury resulted in coma. Francisco Pantaleon a car wash worker had no health insurance. The hospital was latter protested by his family members.

Foodstamp's, Medicaid and Social Security Disability benefit's. All open to illegal immigrant's even if no contribution has ever been made.

One MAJOR issue we need to address here: DRUGS. We have all seen the report's on drug war's in Mexico. If marijuana was legalized in America it would help to cut back on this issue tho not completely. Drug's are a major product for Mexico, they need to get their product in the US. This hurt's us on so many level's. Not many thing's can tear apart family and friend's like a loved one on crack, cocaine or heroin. People are dying RIGHT NOW trying to get those drugs here!

This is NOT a question of race. This IS about America and our future. It's about having money in your pocket and food on your table. It IS about avoiding a "Tent City" crisis. This is also affecting legal immigrant's who have taken the step's necessary for them to make a decent living here.

There are many other factor's that I could discuss here such as car insurance and drivers licenses but I wanted to focus on major hit's we're taking in today's struggling economy.Way's to stop this: Building a wall across the border, Reporting businesses that hire illegal immigrant's, Deportation.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Obama committed a late night no-no!When he did not make the news, he became the news. He has shown exactly why no sitting president has ever done late night or any talk show for that matter. This is Obama's style, off the cuff. The vibe is laid back and you can get to comfortable in the one on one casual setting, it's the chance you take. It is my opinion that he should stay out the public's eye for a while. I love Obama but I'm starting to suffer from Obama overload. When used the phrase "Special Olympics" I reached for my laptop then stopped not really knowing which way this would go. I should have known how, this was the story. Guess I'm still learning. Let's face it, this is not the worst that could have been said, and many of us has probably used similar terms or cracks on people as well.

Ironically, this is a good thing for the Special Olympics, the publicity will shed light on the dire straights the organization is going through. Plus what ever they want they will lickely get for awhile. IF you watched the clip, as soon as he uttered the word Olympics, you could see him say to himself "Oh f*#@!" . Everyone knows he's a nice guy, he didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Obama's just trying to be too cool. I hope the president takes some advice and lay low, and hang with the Family for awhile.

New Jersey is looking to ban bare-it-all bikini waxing. The bill was proposed after a woman suffered injuries and filled suit. On Friday there was a desision to reverse the proposal after angry salon owners complained about losing business at the begining of swimsuit season.

Governor David Paterson of New York proposed a new four percent tax on downloads. This would cover everything from music, software, books and even pornography.

South Carolina, Sheriff Leon Lott of Columbia had officers stopping and questioning USC college students about the Michael Phelps bong incident. Yes, I understand that he broke the law but during that week when officers were preoccupied with these needless interogations, a 62yr old woman was beaten to death and robbed, several cars were broken into (do you know what it costs to replace a winow) a woman was shot and killed at an atm, 3 other ATM's were robbed, ect. ect. ect. its a question of priorities and what law enforcement should be enforcing.

Read on........

Again what is law enforcement enforcing? Jasper County Councilman LeRoy Blackshear proposed the ordinance in June. It would ban anyone from appearing in public "wearing his or her pants more than three (3) inches below his or her hips and thereby exposing his or her skin or intimate clothing." he goes on to compare this law to other laws imposed to protect us>> seat belts, open containers and DUI's and that this law is aimed at black youth. So next time your wondering why theres never a cop around when you need one, just know that they are busy protecting you from the dangers of saggy pants as unconstitutional as it may be.

Michael Steele apologizes to Rush Limbaugh, the errr...umm... dare I say it, talk show host/entertainer, after refering to him as a “talk show host/entertainer" during an interview in response to an e-mail by the Americans United for Change thats titled “The Republican Party has turned into the Rush Limbaugh Party.”

Rush Limbaugh defends AIG bonuses: Why in the world -- or how do you get to the point where you're going to bail out the company, but you don't want the employees to get paid?

In February, after a 5 year investigation, Forest Laboratories Inc. was acused of illegally marketing its anti-depressants Celexa and Lexapro to children and paying pediatricians kickbacks, now..... U.S. health regulators have approved Lexapro for depression in kids. Lexapro, is Forest's biggest product with annual sales of more than $2 billion.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Have republicans lost it? First they pick a red neck Governor from the Ice age to be Vice President. Then they loose the election in a landslide. Next They nominate Micheal Steele to head the party. He immediately went after the "hiphop vote". Excuse me. I'm Steele laughing about that idea. The man is a train wreck, he shouldn't where shoes as often as he eats his feet. He will resign within six months or less.This brings us to Rush Limbaugh of conservative talk radio.

Rush has been nominated head of the GOP by his base, bigots, rednecks and the misinformed. He uses their fear and anger to lead them. The man will say, anything to make money. But hoping Obama fails? That's insane! What do people get from this fat clown. You should always pay attention to how someone takes care of themselves, it tells you about the person they trully are.

But now they are blaming Obama for everything. If Planet Nibru comes they will blame that on the President also. The republicans think we are stupid as hell. They want us to get entangled in this AIG bonus bull.This would be counter productive, there's no real recourse. Although it makes for good television.

AIG can not go under they're too crucial to the world of finance. So get over it, we shouldn't be surprised anyway. This is what happens every time those that have, take from those don't. When allowed to, that why we should set strict rules with vigorous oversight. Simultaneously breaking the company down. Not all the way, but at least to the point where they no longer control the world markets.

The truth is Obama's plans are working and the economy IS going to pick up. He has a strong plan for housing that should start showing positive affect this year. The stimulus package, if handled correctly by the states (SOUTH CAROLINA) should spark a dramatic spike in the job market. Especially in construction and services. The biggest problem is the banks, they must lend money. We must do whatever it takes to help them become solid again. There's one thing I would like Obama to address and that's credit ratings. Certain debts should not count against you, like medical bills. Somethings you can't control. Besides, YOUR taxes fund state hospitals that foot the bill for illegals that dont have a credit score.

Don,t pop the Champagne yet. The republicans want us to forget about the last 8 years. We can't let that happened. Don't forget: 2 wars, touchier, Katrina, a war with no plan, Cheney, and the economy. This is a fraction of the known Bush failures. The republicans were with him lock and step.

Major tobacco companies, which expect to sell fewer cigarettes under the new tax laws, have already raised prices to boost revenues ahead of next month's federal increase. The propossed state tax on cigarrettes could range from $.07 to $1.00, this new state tax would come on top of a recently enacted 62-cents-per-pack federal cigarette tax hike. The costs don't stop there. Companies who retail tobacco products feel the need to "keep up" with these rising costs. If the product sales at lets say $2.5 and the profit is $.25 then why would they sale the same product at $5.13 and keep their profit at $.25. The price for a single pack of cigarrettes could look something like this; Base price $4.46 + retail markup $.50 + state tax $1.00 + federal tax $.60 = total amount $6.65 depending on your area.

The extra taxes would help fund health programs. Some hope it will affect smoking habits.m.d.t.

YES, AIG is that big. They are also to involved. I mean they have their hands in the most crucial elements of our financial industry. They are an insurance company for banks . What AIG does is insure loans and loans and loans on more diced up loans. A bank can take more than 1 loan and divide it into 3 4 5 or more parts. Mix the loan parts with other loan parts to create a new Frankenstein loan. That's the loan AIG insures. Now the bank borrows 40 dollars for every 1 dollars and invest it in to the housing market. If AIG goes under the the loans go under and not just the bad loans. A lot of the them are mixed together these loans are securities. So when the housing bubble burst AIG had to pay more than they had so they couldn't meet their debts. this is when Bush gave them 150,000,000,000 dollars. the problem with this is there was no strings attached a blank check. So far they have taken more than 200,000,000,000 dollars. Obama isn't going to let them keep operating business as usual. I expect massive change in the way we do business. This is not his fault but is his problem. And he will correct the problems, they cant continue to operate this way.In one year AIG's stock has dropped from the high 70s, to a buck, although it's been moving up the last day or two. Look for this stock to continue to rise for at least while. I don't believe it will top 15 dollars any time soon but who knows anymore. Its probably a good time to buy, AIG stock is worth more than 2 dollars.Here's the kicker AIG also sets the credit ratings.

It,s not the ending we all expected two weeks ago, but still a good season. A gamecock team that played 2 men short all year played with their hearts and it showed up in the win column. I really believe down the stretch we simply, ran out of gas. Downey and Fredrick were wore slap out, physically and mentally. The grind of the SEC regular season was just too much. The fact the conference didn't have a knockout team doesn't diminish the league as a whole. There are at least 9 quality teams, 4 were a little better than the others any of them could take any top 25 team to the wire. The high paced trapping defence turned their legs to jello and that kills your shooting. They were a team that needed everyone healthy all year and that didn't happened. Konrad and Ross both missed a lot of games. This forced Carolina guards into big minutes basically every night. After the high of the Kentucky game we disappeared. I say they were tired The grind of the season didn't doom the gamecocks post season hopes alone but is a definite factor.

The refs were also terrible all year. Our big men got beat worse than Rhianna after an awards show. I don't know how many times Holmes would get fouled, and the call would go on him. It was ridiculous and anyone who watched the games knows I'm telling the truth. But, it is, what, it is and some things won't change. With the combination of these and other factors its truly amazing we were able to last as long as we did.

Another problem was we would have long scoreless stretches. In these moments we needed to let the offence flow through our Bigs. Too many times we would force bad shots. This is an area that will improve next year with another year for Horn to work with the team.

I saw this team play a lot on T.V. and 4 times in person and it was fun to watch. This is what Gamecock fans have been waiting for. Its high speed in your face basketball. Downey is truly worth the price of admission. The big men defend the rim with reckless abandon and can finish with authority. I'm proud of this team, every player on this team left it on the court and when you do that you can keep your head up.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Mark Sanford has got to go! It kills ME to here pundits refer to him time and again as a candidate for president. in 2012. That is flat out ridiculous! First off Sanford is the Governor of SC, his state ranks close to last in all categories. Education being one of the worst. This makes his decision to turn down Federal money that much more puzzling. Not to mention the 10.5 % unemployment rate, with some counties claiming 25% or higher. SC is currently 2nd place in the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Another issue we haven't heard addressed is the Confederate Flag. Yes, it still flies on the statehouse grounds. The NAACP'sboycott is still in affect. Although it doesn't get the attention it once did it still has a negative impact on our economy. Some of the most noticeable impacts occur in three areas; sports, entertainment and tourism, lifelines to our economic well being.University of SC is looked over when opportunities arise like hosting certain tournaments, and one could argue that it hurts the basketball teams chances of getting an invitation to the NCAA tournament. The biggest name in golf does not come to SC. While Tiger has never said that the Confederate Flag is the reason it does make you wonder, considering the number of courses here.The Colonial Life Arena was built in part to draw bigger acts. Yet, they still will not come. Why? it is hard to say but yet again, the Confederate Flag does not help on this issue.Last is tourism. Do not believe for one moment that this has not been impacted as well. Recently SC decided to cancel Bike week, this may be the worst decision SC has made involving tourism.Not only is the possibility of Sanford becoming President an extremelong shot, he could very easily lose his current JOB.

William H Turner

About Me

I grew up in a small town on the coast of S.C.. I am a happily married, parent of two. I have had a strong interest in politics from a young age. I belive in the peoples power and responsibility to demand that our elected officials represent the American citizens interests and not only that of Corporate America. I also have a great interest in sports. GO GAMECOCKS!!